Tricky Sam Nanton
Encyclopedia
Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton (February 1, 1904 – July 20, 1946) was a famous trombonist with the Duke Ellington
Orchestra
.
and began playing professionally in Washington with bands led by Cliff Jackson
and Elmer Snowden
. He joined Ellington in 1926.
From 1923 to 1924, he worked with Frazier's Harmony Five. A year later, he performed with banjoist Elmer Snowden. At age 22, Joe Nanton found his niche in Duke Ellington's Orchestra when he reluctantly took the place of his friend Charlie Irvis
. He remained a member of the orchestra until his early death in 1946. Nanton, along with Lawrence Brown, anchored one of the outstanding jazz trombone sections of the swing era
, their different, complementary talents and personalities opening up a wide range of trombone sounds and solos in the early Ellington bands.
, Nanton is largely responsible for creating the characteristic Wah-wah sounds copied by many later brass soloists in the swing era
. Their highly expressive growl and plunger sounds were the main ingredient in the band's famous “jungle” sound that evolved during the band's late 1920s engagement at Harlem
's "Cotton Club
". After Miley's premature departure in 1929, Nanton taught Cootie Williams
, Miley's successor, some of the growl and plunger techniques that Miley had used. Williams became a plunger virtuoso
in his own right and helped the band retain its distinctive sound.
Many people asked Nanton how he acquired and formulated his unique style and sounds. In 1921, Nanton heard Johnny Dunn
playing the trumpet with a plunger, which Nanton realized could be used to similar effect on the trombone.
When Joe Nanton joined the Ellington band, he was eager to solo. Nanton had been playing with the band for several weeks before the jovial alto saxophonist Otto "Toby" Hardwick convinced Ellington to let him play. According to Barney Bigard
, “...he [Joe Nanton] grabbed his plunger. He could use that thing, too. It talked to you. I was sitting there, looking up at him, and every time he'd say 'wa-wa,' I was saying 'wa-wa' with my mouth, following him all the way through.”
From his early days with the Ellington band, Tricky Sam was featured regularly. But he and Miley worked especially well in combination, often playing in harmony
or “playing off each other” (embellishing and developing the musical theme of the preceding soloist into one's own new musical idea). Nanton and Miley successfully incorporated plunger skills in their playing to evoke moods, people, or images. It was their work together as much as their individual talents that earned Tricky Sam Nanton and Bubber Miley their place as the first musicians widely recognized for their plunger sounds and styles.
The celebrated brass growl effect was vividly described by Duke Ellington's son, Mercer Ellington
:
Nanton and Miley gave the Ellington Orchestra the reputation of being one of the “dirtiest” jazz groups. Many listeners were excited by the raunchy, earthy sounds of their growls and mutes. Among the best examples of their style are “East St. Louis Toodle-oo,” “The Blues I Love to Sing,” “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “Goin' to Town,” and “Doin' the Voom-Voom.”
While other brass players became adept at growl and plunger techniques, Nanton's sound was all his own. He developed, in addition to other tricks in his bag, an astonishing "ya-ya" sound with the plunger mute. Like a chef zealously guarding the recipe of a sensational dish, Nanton kept the details of his technique a secret, even from his band mates, until his premature death.
Some ingredients in Nanton's unique "ya-ya" sound, however, are apparent: inserting a nonpareil trumpet straight mute into the bell, using a large plumber's plunger outside the bell, and "speaking" into the instrument while playing. This sort of speaking involved changing the cavity of the mouth while silently reproducing different vowel sounds without actually vibrating the vocal cords. By shaping the soft palate to change from "ee" to "ah," Nanton was able to make his trombone sound like a voice singing "ya." His palette of near-vocal sounds was radical for its time and helped produce the unique voicings in Ellington compositions, such as "The Mooche" and "Mood Indigo
".
on July 20, 1946, while on tour with the Ellington Orchestra. Nanton's death, the first of an active Ellington musician, was an enormous loss for the Ellington Orchestra. While later trombonists, including Tyree Glenn
, Nanton's replacement, have tried to duplicate Tricky Sam's plunger techniques, no one has been able to reproduce his legendary style. Nanton had a wide variety of expression, and his intricate techniques were not well documented.
Fortunately, Nanton left behind a legacy of many outstanding recordings (unlike Miley) and a lasting influence on the art of the jazz trombone.
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
Orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
.
Early life
Nanton was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and began playing professionally in Washington with bands led by Cliff Jackson
Cliff Jackson
Clifton Luther "Cliff" Jackson was an American jazz stride pianist.After playing in Atlantic City, Jackson moved to New York City in 1923, where he played with Lionel Howard's Musical Aces in 1924 and recorded with Bob Fuller and Elmer Snowden...
and Elmer Snowden
Elmer Snowden
Elmer Snowden was a banjo player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as both a player and a bandleader, and is responsible for launching the careers of many top musicians...
. He joined Ellington in 1926.
From 1923 to 1924, he worked with Frazier's Harmony Five. A year later, he performed with banjoist Elmer Snowden. At age 22, Joe Nanton found his niche in Duke Ellington's Orchestra when he reluctantly took the place of his friend Charlie Irvis
Charlie Irvis
Charlie Irvis was an American jazz trombonist, best known for performing in Duke Ellington's band.Irvis played with Bubber Miley in his youth and then with blues singer Lucille Hegamin in the "Blue Flame Syncopators" from 1920 to 1921...
. He remained a member of the orchestra until his early death in 1946. Nanton, along with Lawrence Brown, anchored one of the outstanding jazz trombone sections of the swing era
Swing Era
The Swing era was the period of time when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though the music had been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Moten, Ella Fitzgerald,...
, their different, complementary talents and personalities opening up a wide range of trombone sounds and solos in the early Ellington bands.
The wah-wah
Nanton was one of the great pioneers of the plunger mute. Together with his musical soulmate Bubber Miley on trumpetTrumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, Nanton is largely responsible for creating the characteristic Wah-wah sounds copied by many later brass soloists in the swing era
Swing Era
The Swing era was the period of time when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though the music had been around since the late 1920s and early 1930s, being played by black bands led by such artists as Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Moten, Ella Fitzgerald,...
. Their highly expressive growl and plunger sounds were the main ingredient in the band's famous “jungle” sound that evolved during the band's late 1920s engagement at Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
's "Cotton Club
Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem, New York City that operated during Prohibition that included jazz music. While the club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, such as Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Adelaide Hall, Count Basie, Bessie Smith,...
". After Miley's premature departure in 1929, Nanton taught Cootie Williams
Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...
, Miley's successor, some of the growl and plunger techniques that Miley had used. Williams became a plunger virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
in his own right and helped the band retain its distinctive sound.
Many people asked Nanton how he acquired and formulated his unique style and sounds. In 1921, Nanton heard Johnny Dunn
Johnny Dunn
Johnny Dunn was an American traditional jazz trumpeter and vaudeville performer, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He is probably best known for his work during the 1920s with musicians such as Perry Bradford or Noble Sissle. In 1928, Dunn recorded four tracks with Jelly Roll Morton, and two...
playing the trumpet with a plunger, which Nanton realized could be used to similar effect on the trombone.
When Joe Nanton joined the Ellington band, he was eager to solo. Nanton had been playing with the band for several weeks before the jovial alto saxophonist Otto "Toby" Hardwick convinced Ellington to let him play. According to Barney Bigard
Barney Bigard
Albany Leon Bigard, aka Barney Bigard, was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet....
, “...he [Joe Nanton] grabbed his plunger. He could use that thing, too. It talked to you. I was sitting there, looking up at him, and every time he'd say 'wa-wa,' I was saying 'wa-wa' with my mouth, following him all the way through.”
"Tricky Sam"
Sensing Nanton's impressive manual dexterity the fun-loving Hardwick, ever inclined to tag friends with fitting nicknames, dubbed Nanton "Tricky Sam": “anything to save himself trouble—he was tricky that way.”From his early days with the Ellington band, Tricky Sam was featured regularly. But he and Miley worked especially well in combination, often playing in harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
or “playing off each other” (embellishing and developing the musical theme of the preceding soloist into one's own new musical idea). Nanton and Miley successfully incorporated plunger skills in their playing to evoke moods, people, or images. It was their work together as much as their individual talents that earned Tricky Sam Nanton and Bubber Miley their place as the first musicians widely recognized for their plunger sounds and styles.
The celebrated brass growl effect was vividly described by Duke Ellington's son, Mercer Ellington
Mercer Ellington
Mercer Kennedy Ellington was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger.Ellington was born in Washington, DC, the son of famous composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington...
:
Nanton and Miley gave the Ellington Orchestra the reputation of being one of the “dirtiest” jazz groups. Many listeners were excited by the raunchy, earthy sounds of their growls and mutes. Among the best examples of their style are “East St. Louis Toodle-oo,” “The Blues I Love to Sing,” “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “Goin' to Town,” and “Doin' the Voom-Voom.”
While other brass players became adept at growl and plunger techniques, Nanton's sound was all his own. He developed, in addition to other tricks in his bag, an astonishing "ya-ya" sound with the plunger mute. Like a chef zealously guarding the recipe of a sensational dish, Nanton kept the details of his technique a secret, even from his band mates, until his premature death.
Some ingredients in Nanton's unique "ya-ya" sound, however, are apparent: inserting a nonpareil trumpet straight mute into the bell, using a large plumber's plunger outside the bell, and "speaking" into the instrument while playing. This sort of speaking involved changing the cavity of the mouth while silently reproducing different vowel sounds without actually vibrating the vocal cords. By shaping the soft palate to change from "ee" to "ah," Nanton was able to make his trombone sound like a voice singing "ya." His palette of near-vocal sounds was radical for its time and helped produce the unique voicings in Ellington compositions, such as "The Mooche" and "Mood Indigo
Mood Indigo
"Mood Indigo" is a jazz composition and song, with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard with lyrics by Irving Mills.-Disputed authorship:In a 1987 interview, Mitchell Parish claimed to have written the lyrics:...
".
Death
Nanton died in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
on July 20, 1946, while on tour with the Ellington Orchestra. Nanton's death, the first of an active Ellington musician, was an enormous loss for the Ellington Orchestra. While later trombonists, including Tyree Glenn
Tyree Glenn
Evan Tyree Glenn was an American trombone player.-Biography:...
, Nanton's replacement, have tried to duplicate Tricky Sam's plunger techniques, no one has been able to reproduce his legendary style. Nanton had a wide variety of expression, and his intricate techniques were not well documented.
Fortunately, Nanton left behind a legacy of many outstanding recordings (unlike Miley) and a lasting influence on the art of the jazz trombone.
External links
- Vintage Mutes: VintageMutes.com - Virtual museum of historical Wind Mutes